


Cat(ch) Me If You Can

by Soojinnie



Series: Royal Secrets [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, Cafe Owner Jisoo, Crown Prince Jeonghan, Fluff, Happy Ending maybe, M/M, Royal Guards AU, Royalty AU, Shifter AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-11-02 01:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20568362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soojinnie/pseuds/Soojinnie
Summary: Crown Prince Jeonghan is being pressured to find a partner, so he decides to do it in the most annoyingly dangerous way possible.Whoever can capture his black cat will win the Prince's hand in marriage.The catch?Jeonghan is the black cat, and he already has his eye on the cute barista in town





	Cat(ch) Me If You Can

**Author's Note:**

> New Series!!! After literal eons of me being dead to this world apparently ahahah oops.  
Honestly this took me three whole months to conceptualize and write yikes

Seungcheol jerks awake in a cold sweat, eyes darting around his room, trying to shake the memory of the palace guards storming his family home after he’d first shifted _ . _

He runs a hand through his hair, heart still racing from his dream. He remembers the fear in his parents eyes when he’d first shifted, turning from 18-year-old boy into a growling, terrified cheetah.

Seconds later he’d shifted back, but the damage had been done, and Seungcheol was all but shoved out the door, towards the Royal guards who were already waiting.

He heads out to the garden, hoping that some fresh air would clear his mind and erase the unpleasant memories. He doesn’t expect to see his charge, crown prince Yoon Jeonghan, delicately cleaning his paws in the veranda.

“Your highness, you’re up early,” he comments, reaching down to scratch the prince’s ears. Jeonghan purrs loudly, meowing unhappily when he stops, hopping off the bench and elegantly shifting back into his human self.

“I have exciting news, and I couldn’t sleep,” he answers lazily, and Seungcheol spots a twinkle in his eye that makes his stomach turn uneasily. “Come, I’ll announce it at breakfast.”

He should’ve known that Prince Jeonghan had something up his stupid royal sleeve.

“YOU WANT TO  _ WHAT _ ?” Seungcheol all but shrieks at the young crown prince, staring at him in horror and disbelief.

Jeonghan laughs delightedly at his guard’s horror and shock. “Exactly what I said Cheollie. I’m going to offer my hand in marriage to whoever can take the key from around my cat’s neck.”

“Your highness, that’s... unwise,” Jihoon offers quietly, frowning severely at Jeonghan, who just waves away his concern, eyes glittering with excitement.

“It’s perfect! If they can treat cat me well, they’ll treat human me well,” he shrugs, not missing the unsure looks his guards shoot one another.

“Hyung, our families didn’t give our lives and sworn secrecy for you to expose all of us on a marriage whim,” Mingyu argues through a mouthful of eggs, and everyone at the table nods vigorously.

Jeonghan pays him no mind, telling Chan to have an official announcement drawn up and released later today.

“He’s gonna get found out, all that bleach has killed his brain,” Jihoon mutters under his breath, and Jeonghan snorts, tutting playfully at his newest (and grumpiest) guard.

“I can hear you, one, and two, you have too little faith Jihoonie. I’ll be just fine,” he grins. “Besides, I have you and Cheol to be my big bad saviours.”

Seungcheol groans internally, already dreading the coming weeks. Jeonghan has an infamously stubborn streak, and does pretty much whatever he wishes, consequences (and parental disapproval) be damned.

The announcement goes out barely an hour later, and Jeonghan smirks, telling his guards that he’s heading into town to visit his favourite bookstore cafe.

“His favourite bookstore my ass, he just thinks the owner is cute,” Minghao snorts, and Jeonghan shoots his little brother a dirty look.

“At least I’m not lusting after my guard,” he whispers, watching as Minghao turns bright red. “Cheol, Hoon, hurry up before I decide to go in his shifted form,” he calls, already walking away from the dining room.

(Jeonghan goes in his shifted form anyway, much to both Seungcheol and Jihoon’s chagrin.)

Jisoo hears about the announcement about two seconds before said prince walks in, followed by two  _ very  _ disgruntled guards. 

“Afternoon your highness, it’s nice to see you again,” Jisoo greets lightly, eyes filled with warmth as Jeonghan’s entire body relaxes.

“You know you don’t have to be this formal with me Shua, it’s not like everyone doesn’t know I have a penchant to visit your little cafe,” he laughs, and Jisoo can’t help the wide grin that grows on his face.

“You are still royalty  _ Hannie _ , but I suppose a little familiarity would be okay,” he teases, turning away to prepare Jeonghan’s usual order, as well as Seungcheol’s caramel frappucino and Jihoon’s four-shot americano.

“Any interesting news lately?” Jeonghan asks, leaning on the counter to watch Jisoo, his inner cat purring happily. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the announcement,” he probes.

Jisoo suppresses a smile, handing the prince and his guards their coffee, wishing them good luck. Jeonghan watches the genuine laugh light up Jisoo’s pretty face, and considers for a moment to give up the game just so he can openly court Jisoo, but that would be far too obvious.

He likes that Jisoo doesn’t treat him special; heavens knew he was already treated like that everywhere else he went, but he wanted Jisoo’s attention, specifically  _ his  _ attention. 

_ Maybe he doesn’t like you, he’s just being polite,  _ a whisper of doubt drifts in his mind, and Jeonghan frowns, unsettled by the thought.

“Is something wrong?” Jisoo’s lilting voice breaks his reverie, and he shakes his head, shooting Jisoo a lazy smile, reassuring him that everything was fine, and that he had somewhere to go, so he can’t stay this time.

“Make sure your cat is still safe, I’ve heard whispers about plans to capture him, and I worry,” Jisoo tacks on just as Jeonghan turns to leave, and his heart warms at the thought, turning back to wink at his favourite barista.

_ Aw, he does care. _

The second Jeonghan walks away, Jisoo’s head thunks the tabletop, and he lets out a pained groan at how stupidly embarrassing he had just been.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he mutters to himself. “He’s just being polite, he’s royalty, why would he fancy you?”

Jisoo sighs, straightening and plastering on a smile when he hears the little bell at his door jingle. He half hopes it’s Jeonghan, back to distract him and look etherally beautiful while he sat in a corner reading a book, but it’s just a group of girls, and Jisoo’s somehow disappointed still.

_ Don’t be stupid, he said he has something to do,  _ he berates himself silently, greeting the girls as politely as he can.

“Hi, can I get a large vanilla chai latte, with three extra pumps of vanilla syrup please?” One of the girls orders, barely sparing him a glance, and Jisoo pushes down the tendril of irritation when he has to ask her for her name and payment over and over again.

“Oh my god, hurry up and get your coffee already, we gotta go try and capture the Prince’s stupid cat!” The girl’s friend pokes her, and she finally looks up, muttering her name and handing over her card.

“Your drink will be with you in a minute,  _ Minhee,”  _ Jisoo forces his grin and tone to stay polite, even though he would rather be anything but. He makes her drink halfheartedly, mind pre-occupied with what Minhee’s friend had said, worry making his stomach churn.

_ I hope his cat is okay. _

The rest of the week goes by with Jisoo’s mood progressively getting worse. He overhears more “grab and run” plans than he can be bothered to count, and by the time he’s getting ready to close on Saturday night he’s  _ this  _ close to snapping at the two girls and boys at the cashier. They talk loudly, and  _ obnoxiously _ , about their so-called “brilliant” plan to lure the royal cat into a cage and feed him treats laced with ground up sleeping pills.

“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal,” Jisoo says primly, handing over their drinks. “And I’m not sure his Highness would want a significant other who resorts to trickery to capture his beloved pet,” he adds on, shooting them a meaningful look before walking away to continue closing up his little cafe.

Jeonghan knows his bodyguards are pissed at him (or at the very least annoyed), with this entire plan of getting the key around his cat’s neck, but it is pretty amusing to see Seungcheol all but have a heart attack when shitty, half-assed traps are being laid out for him.

It’s a little insulting though, watching desperate boys, girls, men and women try and bribe Jeonghan/ _ Cheonsa  _ into eating some sort of treat laced with sleeping pills, mild paralytics, or worse,  _ poison _ . He scoffs at the last pathetic attempt, gracefully jumping away. He meows plainly at his two frazzled bodyguards before slipping into the cafe from the back entrance.

He settles in an empty space in one of Jisoo’s many bookshelves, purring quietly when he hears Jisoo reprimand the group that is planning to  _ poison  _ him.

He pads back out, meowing to his bodyguards about the plot he’d just overheard. Seungcheol and Jihoon groan quietly, but round the cafe to interrogate the four people who were planning on harming a member of the royal family.

Jeonghan slips back into the cafe just in time to hear them leave the store huffily, and pokes his head out to see Jisoo grumbling to himself about animal abuse and being unfit to be a Prince’s significant other, and his heart melts at how upset he is over a silly plan.

He watches from his little corner as the group argue with Seungcheol about being apprehended, and spots Jisoo’s small little smug smile at the trio’s plans failing.

_ Fuck, he’s just so cute like that.  _

When he sees his last customers of the day get arrested by Jeonghan’s bodyguards, Jisoo can’t help but let the grin spread across his face.

“Serves them right,” he mutters to himself, humming as he drying off the last few cups, wondering briefly where Jeonghan could be if both his guards are right outside his store.

"Probably in the palace or something,” he scoffs, jumping in surprise when he hears a meow coming from one of his bookshelves. He peeks round the corner, jerking back when he sees a pair of bright yellow eyes staring back at him.

_ That’s Jeonghan’s cat,  _ he thinks, watching the cat curiously as he meanders his way up to him, jumping and landing gracefully on the countertop.

“ _ Meow,”  _ the cat meows in Jisoo’s face, and he can’t help but giggle, reaching out to gently stroke his head.

“You sound like Hannie,  _ Cheonsa,”  _ he murmurs, cooing softly when  _ Cheonsa  _ nuzzles his head into Jisoo’s palm, purring loudly and contentedly. “Affectionate one, aren’t you?” he hums, scratching the black cat’s chin.

He knows it’s Jeonghan’s cat, and he knows how easy it would be to just grab the key, but he doesn’t want the black cat to be threatened in any way. Jisoo figures that if he has to resort to trickery to gain Jeonghan’s hand in marriage then it wouldn’t be a marriage of love anyway. Besides, if Jeonghan wanted to court him he would’ve done it ages ago, rather than endanger his pretty black kitty. 

_ Cheonsa  _ bunts Jisoo’s hand pulling him out of his daydream. He meows softly, staring Jisoo in the eyes before hopping off the counter, walking towards the front door and meowing until one of Jeonghan’s guards opens the door for him. Jisoo watches, laughing at how disgruntled his guards look, and how utterly unbothered the cat is. 

Seungcheol stares down at  _ Cheonsa  _ unamusedly , eyebrow cocked. He just meows, tail flicking lazily as he jumps up onto Seungcheol, draping himself over his shoulders and settling in.  _ Take me home now,  _ he meows, and Seungcheol sighs, giving the royal feline a reluctant scratch behind his ears before making their way back to the palace. 

Jihoon follows the pair quietly, keeping an eye out for anything that could threaten the prince in his… other form. He watches Seungcheol and his Highness argue quietly and wonders how he ended up in this situation, wonders if anyone else is aware of who –  _ what  _ he is. He’s grateful that Seungcheol was the one who found him, but he also wonders what life would be like if he didn’t. 

_ Maybe it’d be normal, or as normal as a shapeshifter’s life can ge– _

“Hurry up Jihoonie, or you’ll get left behind,” Seungcheol calls out, laughing when Jihoon promptly trips over his feet, shocked out of his thoughts. He jogs to catch up with the cheetah shifter, complaining that the older walks too fast. Jeonghan shifts uncomfortably, meowing at Jihoon until the smaller guard picks him up, grimacing slightly when Jeonghan nuzzles Jihoon’s neck. 

“Your Highness, please, it’s not proper,” Jihoon murmurs, and Jeonghan snorts, wrinkling his nose before cuddling into Jihoon.

_ I’m a cat! Who cares if I’m affectionate!  _ Jeonghan meows indignantly, shifting unhappily and Jihoon flails for a second, fully not expecting Jeonghan’s sudden movement, or his yowling. 

“Yes Your Highness, but we know, and the other guards know, and the royal family know,” Jihoon murmurs, looking around and making sure no one realizes how weird it is that he’s talking to a  _ cat.  _

_ Stupid royal rules,  _ Jeonghan –  _ Cheonsa –  _ complains, and Jihoon chuckles quietly, shaking his head at  _ Cheonsa’s  _ antics. 

“We’re back you can stop flirting now,” Seungcheol grumbles, and  _ Cheonsa _ hops off Jihoon’s shoulder, mewling delicately before shifting back, shaking out his blonde hair, smirking knowingly at his cheetah guard. 

“If you’re jealous, Cheollie, just say so,” he purrs, winking at Jihoon before sauntering into the palace, leaving both his guards frozen, staring at one another awkwardly. Jihoon reacts first, breaking eye contact with Seungcheol and darting into the safety of the palace before Seungcheol can stop him. 

Jihoon sneaks into the Guards’ Quarters, desperately trying to avoid Seungcheol and any potentially awkward conversations, flopping face first onto his bed, purposefully ignoring his roommate’s probing stare. 

“I know you’re still awake Hoonie,” Junhui snorts, and Jihoon throws a pillow at him. Junhui catches it easily, snickering when Jihoon grumbles incoherently, resigning himself to flipping the snow leopard off. “If this is about Cheol hyung you know I can’t help you,” Junhui reminds him, lightly. “You know what I think about the situation.” 

“Like you’re any better with Gyu and Hao,” Jihoon snarks, turning away grumpily. “...Goodnight Junnie,” he mutters, feeling a tendril of guilt creep in for being so sharp with Junhui

“Goodnight Hoonie,” his roommate laughs, and Jihoon sighs, burrowing deeper into his pillow, shutting his eyes and praying for sleep. 

The door being obnoxiously thrown open at fuck-o-clock in the morning (read: 9am), twenty full minutes  _ before  _ his alarm results in Jihoon nearly shooting Seungcheol in the face. When the shock wears off, he holds the gun there a little longer, narrowing his eyes before dropping back into bed, foot kicking out to tell Seungcheol to get the fuck out of his room. 

“Good morning Jihoonie! Gotta get up early today! The Crown Prince has made a decision!” Seungcheol yells, and Jihoon stays motionless for a second, processing the information. 

_ The Prince…  _

_ Decision?  _

Jihoon jerks out of bed, suddenly wide awake. Seungcheol barely gives Jihoon time to brush his hair before he’s tugging his partner into the Great Hall for Jeonghan’s supposed decision. Jeonghan, surprisingly, is actually dressed and awake, elegantly sipping his iced coffee and nibbling on some hotteok the chefs had prepared. 

“Good morning Jihoon, sorry for the sudden wake up,” Jeonghan offers him a friendly greeting, and Jihoon just bows, not trusting his voice this early in the morning. “Today,” he announces, waving his spoon at his two personal guards. “I’ve decided that I’m going to stop the contest to get the key around my neck.” 

The collective sigh of relief has Jeonghan laughing lightly, feeling the slightest bit of guilt at stressing out the Royal Guards so much over the last week or so. “But I don’t want to release this information  _ yet. _ ” 

Protests explode from all the guards, even from Chan, who’s nagging him like his mom would. Jeonghan bites down on his laughter at their indignation. He raises his hand and everyone falls silent. It stops their verbal protests, but it certainly doesn’t stop them from shooting  _ looks  _ at the crown prince. 

“I don’t want to release it,” he pauses, and Seungcheol looks about ready to throttle him, royalty be damned. “Because I already have someone in mind.” 

Immediately Seungcheol and Jihoon know who Prince Jeonghan is referring to. There’s only one person who could possibly capture the prince’s heart (or attention for that matter). Seungcheol beams at Jeonghan, knowing that the two of them will make a great couple, and hopefully the little cafe owner can reel in their careless Crown Prince. Jeonghan stands, grinning mischievously at his two guards, who instantly know something is about to happen. 

“Your Highness, don–” 

“Great now I’ll go ahead, you can catch up!” Jeonghan interrupts Seungcheol, smirking at him before shifting and gracefully leaping out the window and into the gardens. 

“Fucking  _ hell, _ ” Seungcheol curses, grabbing Jihoon to chase after the brat of a prince they both have to guard.

Jisoo’s so ready for this week to be over, but Sunday’s are his best days, with the Churchgoers and brunch crowd coming in the early afternoon. Mornings, however, are for him to have a moment to himself in his little cafe. He does still get the occasional customer, but it’s his least hectic morning every week and Jisoo’s so grateful for the time to breathe. 

He looks up when the bell jingles, then looks down when he doesn’t see anything, beaming when he sees  _ Cheonsa  _ walking in. 

“Good morning  _ Cheonsa,  _ where’s your usual entourage?” he laughs, pulling out the bag of special treats he keeps specially for the black cat, settling on one of his plush chairs in his cafe and shaking the bag enticingly. 

_ Cheonsa  _ meows loudly, jumping up into Jisoo’s lap and pawing at the bag, as if asking him to hurry up and hand the treats over already. Jisoo laughs, opening the bag and picking up a couple pieces before offering it to  _ Cheonsa.  _

_ Meow (I choose you) _

“Go ahead, it’s all for you.”

_ Mrow (I hope you don’t reject me)  _

“What’s wrong? What’s – oH. Oh my god.” 

Jisoo looks down at his lap in shock, staring at the intricately carved silver key in his lap.  _ Cheonsa  _ looks up at him expectantly, and Jisoo picks up the key gingerly, one hand automatically stroking  _ Cheonsa’s  _ soft head. He can’t believe the cat just willingly  _ gave _ it to him. 

Did that mean Jeonghan returned his affections? 

That his hidden crush felt the same way about him? 

Did it–

“Oh. My. God,” a shrill voice makes Jisoo flinch, and he looks up to see a girl glaring at the key in his hand. “That key is mine! Jeonghan would never want to date someone like  _ you, _ ” she snarls, lunging for Jisoo. 

_ No fucking way you crazy bitch,  _ Jeonghan thinks viciously, hissing at the crazy girl. Jisoo jumps away just before her talons (nails) can reach him, slipping the strap around before nipping at Jisoo’s ankles and darting into the back room, yowling loudly for Jisoo to follow . 

“Come back here! Stupid cat, can’t it see he’s a guy? The prince would  _ never  _ pick a  _ boy _ !” she yells, and Jisoo scoffs so hard he almost chokes on air. 

“Well, I have the key, so I guess he chose me,” Jisoo shrugs, shutting the door in her face and locking it firmly. He turns to  _ Cheonsa,  _ frowning when he sees the cat sitting on the chair and he’s… starting… to  _ change?  _

Jisoo stares in shock as the black cat he’s been spoiling literally turns into the prince he’s been  lusting  secretly loving  crushing on since he started frequenting the cafe. Jeonghan waits, calm smile on his face, even though he’s anything but, and let’s Jisoo process what he’s just seen. 

“You-” 

“Yep.” 

“Cat-”

“Me.”

“Wh- H-  _ What? _ ” Jisoo sputters, and Jeonghan laughs lightly. 

“Don’t look so surprised Shua, you know you were always my favourite” Jeonghan purrs, and Jisoo turns scarlet, shakily holding out the key to Jeonghan. Jeonghan grins wickedly at him, taking the key from Jisoo’s slender fingers. 

“Besides, you sucked at hiding your little crush.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Comment and Kudos! They always make my day.
> 
> Send requests and asks on my (various) tumblrs!
> 
> SPN: [ YourSupernaturalSammyGirl ](https://yoursupernaturalsammygirl.tumblr.com)
> 
> BTS: [ BT(S)VT Adventures ](https://btsvt-adventures.tumblr.com)


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